


Taboo

by redcandle17



Category: Rome
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-18
Updated: 2010-02-18
Packaged: 2017-10-07 09:00:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/63532
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/redcandle17/pseuds/redcandle17
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Octavian wants the one thing even the most powerful man in the world cannot have. Mother/son incest theme, but no sex.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Taboo

It takes his wife a while, but she finds out his secret. It happens quite by chance. Livia has endured his abusive foreplay for months, playing the submissive wife. A hot day, a careless remark, and an ill-tempered mood leads to her hand swinging towards him. Octavian sees the slap coming and he could duck or catch her arm, but he doesn't. He takes the slap; he _savors_ it, and she sees.

It's Octavian's shameful little secret. A Roman man – a Consul of Rome – does not accept beatings; he hands them out. But try as he might, even the most severe beatings he deals to beautiful slaves excites him far less than that single slap.

_She comes to his room with Antony, as if it wasn't bad enough that she still has his sweat on her body. If it had been just her, Octavian would have taken his punishment like a dutiful son, though he would not have apologized for doing what had to be done._

But that man – that vulgar plebe – is here, acting like he has rights here. Octavian loathes him. No doubt Caesar had uses for him, but the man has long over-stepped his bounds and no one has bothered to put him in his place.

She slaps him because of Antony. She doesn't want Antony angry at her so she distances herself from her own son. Octavian hits her back. He is her son and he is only trying to claim what that dog Antony has stolen from him.

He tries, but Antony is much bigger and stronger and a seasoned soldier. Octavian is beaten, but the humiliation is worse than the physical pain. He lays there in his sister's arms and vows that one day he'll see Antony dead and his mother freed from her enchantment.

After the Triumph, after the feast, they're alone for a moment and he says it. "Was that a tear I saw in your eye today, Mother? For Antony?"

He's upset her. For a moment it looks like she will cry. But she steels herself and glares at him.

It's not enough. "Really, Mother. Shedding tears for the man who abandoned you for a foreign whore? Have some pride."

She slaps him then, once, twice. Octavian's cock stiffens beneath his toga. He raises his hand and she – well, it's not really a flinch, but she clearly expects him to strike her back. He seizes her hair and holds her still for a kiss. She yields for just an instant, and then she yanks his own hair hard, pulling his head back.

"You've had too much wine, Octavian."

They both know that is a lie, but Octavian lets it stand. "Good night, Mother."

"Good night, Octavian."

He watches her walk away, wishing he dared follow her to her bed. The most powerful man in Rome; indeed, in the world, and still he cannot have everything.


End file.
